Amos 6
1 Woe to you who have been wealthy in Zion, and to you who have confidence in the mountain of Samaria: aristocrats, heads of the people, who advance with a retinue into the house of Israel.
Woe to them that dwell at ease in Zion; That feel secure upon the mountain of Samaria; The honorable men of the chief of the nations, To whom the house of Israel resort!
2 Cross over to Calneh and see, and go from there into Hamath the great, and descend into Gath of the Philistines, and to the best kingdoms of these, if their limits are wider than your limits.
Pass over to Calneh, and see; And thence go to great Hamath; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines: Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is their border greater than your border?
3 You have been set aside for the day of disaster, and you approach the throne of iniquity.
Woe to them, that put far away the day of evil, And bring near the seat of oppression;
4 You sleep on beds of ivory, and you are lustful on your couches. You devour lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the herd.
That lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch themselves upon their couches; That eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the stall;
5 You sing to the sound of stringed instruments; they consider themselves to have the musical abilities of David.
That chant to the sound of the harp, And invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
6 You drink wine in bowls, and you anoint with the best ointments; and they suffer nothing over the grief of Joseph.
That drink wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the most precious perfumes, But grieve not for the destruction of Joseph!
7 Because of this, now they will depart at the head of those who go into captivity; and the faction of the lustful will be removed.
Therefore now shall they go captive at the head of the captives; Yea, the shouting of them that stretch themselves upon their couches shall cease.
8 The Lord God has sworn by his own soul, the Lord God of hosts says: I detest the arrogance of Jacob, and I hate his houses, and I will hand over the city with its inhabitants.
The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by himself, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the pride of Jacob, And I hate his palaces; I will give up the city, and all that is therein.
9 For if there were ten men remaining in one house, even they will die.
And if ten men remain in one house, These also shall die.
10 And his closest relative will steal him away and will burn him, so that he may carry the bones out of the house. And he will say to him that is in the inner most rooms of the house, “Now is there any left that still belongs to you?” And he will answer, “It is finished.” And he will say to him, “Be silent and do not call to mind the name of the Lord.”
A man's relative, or a burner of the dead, shall take him up, To carry his bones out of the house, And he shall say to him that is in the innermost part of the house, Is there yet any one with thee? And he shall answer, No one! Then shall he say, Keep silence! For we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.
11 For behold, the Lord has commanded, and he will strike the greater house with catastrophes, and the lesser house with divisions.
For behold Jehovah hath commanded, And he will smite the great house with breaches, And the small house with clefts.
12 Can horses gallop across rocks, or is anyone able to plough with gazelles? For you have turned judgment into bitterness and the fruit of justice into wormwood.
Shall horses run upon rocks, Or will one plough rocks with oxen, That ye change justice into hemlock, And the fruit of equity into wormwood,
13 You rejoice in emptiness. You say, “Have we not, by our own strength, taken horns for ourselves?”
Ye that rejoice in a thing of naught, And say, Have we not acquired dominion by our own strength?
14 For behold, house of Israel, I will raise up a people over you, says the Lord God of hosts, and they will crush you from the entrance of Hamath all the way to the burning of the desert.
Behold, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, I will raise against you a nation, That shall oppress you from Hamath Even to the brook of the desert.
